Part of the plan for Barack is to make him into a Kennedy. We saw this trick back when Caroline Kennedy endorsed Obama, calling him the closest thing she'd experienced to the effect her father had on the nation.

A critical part of this strategy is the role of Ted Kennedy, expected to be a big player at the convention in August.

But Teddy's cancer diagnosis, and surgery today, make unclear to what degree the Massachusetts Senator will be effective in trying to cover up Barack's seedier political partnerships.

Kennedy said in his statement that he expected to remain at Duke for about a week after the operation, and start radiation and chemotherapy at Massachusetts General Hospital shortly thereafter.

President Kennedy's speechwriter, Ted Sorenson, is also in poor health, but is doing his best to project an idealized vision of the 60's onto Barack:

Despite being left almost blind by a stroke in 2001, Mr Sorensen has actively campaigned in several states for Barack Obama – a candidate whose youth, charisma and above all stirring oratory remind him so closely of his old boss.

The irrational exuberance for Barack seems to be driven by nostalgia, which explains the old-timers' lack of concern over his inexperience.

"Barack Obama shares JFK's command of words and recognises their power. I am very excited to see how he has inspired young people who have been so cynical about politics for so long."

Sorenson collaborated for several years with a young Princeton graduate, who he has now handed over to Barack.

...thanks to a recommendation from Mr Sorensen, the 26-year-old Princeton graduate is now Mr Obama's deputy chief speechwriter.

"Adam worked with me for six years and got to know all about the speeches I wrote for Kennedy," he said. "So when people hear touches of Kennedy and Sorensen in Obama, they are hearing the contribution of Adam."

Hillary's campaign is preparing to concede and not beat the dead horse through the convention. according to the Telegraph of London:

Senior advisers to Senator Hillary Clinton have prepared the ground for her to abandon her 2008 presidential ambitions within days and not dispute the Democratic nomination all the way to the party convention in August.

Even though she embarrassed Barack again on Sunday with a 2 to 1 victory in Puerto Rico, it seems the Super D's aren't buying Hillary's electibility argument.

Although she won by a wide margin over Barack Obama in yesterday’s Puerto Rico primary - with 85 per cent of the vote in, she was leading by 36 percentage points - the former First Lady made no mention in her victory speech of taking her fight beyond this week.

That may be, but Hillary has an ad up in the remaining states, South Dakota and Montana, promoting herself as the popular vote leader!

Is Hillary still hoping for that precious piece of video tape, the one that shows Barack jumping up and down in his seat as one of his racist friends preaches hatred in Trinity Church? It looks like it's not going to show up soon enough to save the democrats... but hopefully it pops up in October for McCain.

A London newspaper is reporting that Hillary will be offered a dignified exit from the Presidential race, but not the vice president's position.

Senior figures in the Obama camp have told Democrat colleagues that the offer to Mrs Clinton of a cabinet post as health secretary or to steer new legislation through the Senate will be a central element of their peace overtures to the New York senator.

They're not certain that Hillary will find that gratifying.

Despite pressure from some Clinton allies, Mr Obama and his advisers do not wish to ask her to be his vice-presidential running mate. “They will talk to her,” one Democrat strategist close to senior figures in the Obama camp told The Sunday Telegraph. “They will give her the respect she deserves. She will get something to do with health care, a cabinet post or the chance to lead the legislation through the Senate.”

If the idea of Barack as President and Hillary in the cabinet isn't scary enough, consider this motivation to volunteer for McCain:

Another Democrat who has discussed strategy with friends in the Obama inner circle said that Mr Obama was openly considering asking Mrs Clinton to join his cabinet, alongside two other former presidential rivals: John Edwards, who is seen as a likely attorney general; and Joe Biden, who is a leading contender to become Secretary of State.

Mr Obama hinted at the plan last week. “One of my heroes is Abraham Lincoln,” he said.

Ya, well, one of my heroes is Evil Knievel, but I sold my motorcycle when I graduated college.

Clinton had 68 percent of the vote to Obama's 32 percent with all precincts reporting. The New York senator picked up 38 of Puerto Rico's delegates to 16 for Obama with one yet to be allocated, the Associated Press reported.

Could Barack be floating into the summer with a weaker "mandate?" Not everything went the way Hillary wanted, however.

CNN projected the turnout in Puerto Rico would be between 325,000 and 425,000 voters, a fraction of what Clinton supporters had sought to boost her claim that she is winning the popular vote.

Is Barack worried about Hillary performing so much better than him?

Clinton ``is going to be a great asset when we go on to November to make sure we defeat the Republicans,'' Obama, 46, said.

The Obama campaign is spinning Barack's church departure as "a deeply personal decision," having nothing to do with politics, even thought the number one reason Barack cited was guilt by association.

He said it was clear that, since he was a presidential candidate, any remarks made at Trinity by any speaker "will be imputed to me, even if they conflict" with his stated views and values.

Does that sound like a deeply personal decision, or a deeply political one?

Truth is, it didn't even occur to them to consider its impact on the campaign, eh? If you believe that one, there's a political financier on trial who has a piece of land he'd like to swap with you in Chicago.

If you want to see just how serious Barack's ties to racism and bigotry are for the campaign, just listen to how lame they sound putting their best deflection forward. This is former Michigan Congressman David Bonior on Fox today:

But you know, let's look at this. I mean, we've had a number of pastors in this campaign and religious leaders in this campaign express views that candidates don't agree with.

I mean, John McCain was going after John Hagee, Pastor Hagee's support. And Pastor Hagee said some things, and John McCain divided himself or divorced himself from Pastor Hagee.

So you know, we've had this happen in campaigns. And it's important for the candidates to speak out against these type of outrageous and divisive remarks.

Why was Barack so willing to partner with such disgusting, divisive people if they so contradict what he believes in? It's got to be that he's just Bobby Kennedy ruthless and ambitious. Anything goes in the pursuit of power.

Because mainstream America doesn't believe in the things the Democratic Party believes, the party has put together a coalition of special interests as a way to win elections.

They start with the roughly 1/3 of the population that automatically votes against the other party. Their partnership with the unions brings them traditional blue collar support. Then they bring in minorities by offering them social programs, by fighting for the right to come into the country illegally, and by pretending to care about urban America, which under their management has been decimated.

They adopt the gay agenda and get activism and money in return. And their expansion of government, and gifting of excessive benefits to government workers, puts them into a relationship with those workers that gets them votes, but which is crippling America.

The nature of this tragedy can be seen today in a story from Portland, Oregon:

The net result was a monster victory for labor groups that helped solidify their role as one of the state's top power brokers.

This creates an obvious conflict of interest. The money that funds the campaigns of democrats is tax dollars paid to government workers. The will of the people is not done by their elected officials, the will of the unions is done. This is why, for example, education will never be fixed with Democrats around. They claim to care about education, but in reality they care about the agenda of the teachers unions. The teachers unions don't care about education, they care about protecting what they've got and expanding it.

The outcome left Republicans grumbling about the increasing influence of unions in state government. And it left little doubt that labor's agenda will get red-carpet treatment when the 2009 Legislature meets in January.

So what do the unions want for their investment?

Union organizers said they would continue to press for better health coverage, especially for children, for better staffing levels at adult foster care centers, for state programs that add union jobs to the economy and for more bargaining and organizing rights.

The question in this election is, how much has the Democrats attempt to distort the country actually changed the country? Has the power shifted so much, and the values changed so much, that a man who built his political career through ties with the most radical and divisive people imaginable win the presidency.

That's a big part of what this election is about. And Barack talks about it. The tipping point where new (yes to illegal immigration, yes to liberal racism, yes to free sex change operations for criminals, yes to free and private contraception for minors in school, yes to giving diplomas to people who haven't learned anything, yes to America being weak) takes over from old (values, strength, pride in country.)

That's what we're voting for this year. The turning point when America will decide if it wants to throw out, forever, the vision that America was built upon.

Barack has finally resigned from the church of bigotry, divisiveness and hatred that has been his spiritual home for the past 16 years:

Barack Obama announced Saturday that he and his wife had resigned as members of their Chicago church in the wake of controversial remarks from its pulpit that have become a serious distraction to his presidential campaign.

Why'd he do it?

...he quit his Chicago church in the aftermath of inflammatory sermons that could become a lightning rod in the November election.

Could become a lightening rod? How about "that will make him unelectable this fall."

"This is not a decision I come to lightly and frankly it's one I make with some sadness," Obama told reporters during a stop in South Dakota. "Trinity was where I found Jesus Christ, where we were married, where our children were baptized."

Obviously a difficult decision for Barack. But any sane human being would have been out of there, say, 16 years ago!

"It's clear that now that I'm a candidate for president, every time something is said in the church by anyone associated with Trinity, including guest pastors, the remarks will be imputed to me even if they totally conflict with my long-held views, statements and principles," Obama said.

Ah, so Barack thinks he should be viewed as the victim here. But didn't his donation last year of $26,270 help make those guest pastors possible?

Barack's close ties to radicalism are an area of his life that some 527 (Swift Boat style group) must be eagerly researching in preparation for the general election.

In April 2004, Barack Obama told a reporter from the ChicagoSun-Times that he had three spiritual mentors or counselors: Jeremiah Wright, James Meeks, and Father Michael Pfleger.

In a deflection of the seriousness of Barack's partnership with Jeremiah Wright, many have cited the Pastor John Hagee endorsement of John McCain. Obviously, John McCain seeking and receiving political support from a questionable preacher can't be compared with Barack's 20 year mentoring from and familial ties to Wright. But, for those who aren't focused enough to see this, Michael Pfleger comes along to illuminate things. One of the best parts of the Pfleger situation is this:

In September 2007 in Iowa, Plfeger participated in forums on the role of spirituality in politics, which the Obama campaign had organized. The Obama campaign welcomed Pfleger's endorsement, listing him as one of about a dozen prominent ministers who supported Obama.

Yup. Pfleger is not just another of Barack's divisive, race-baiting mentors. He also endorsed Barack! And worked on his campaign! On the role of consulting on spirituality in politics. The disingenuous attempt by the left to fluff off Wright as the exception, and to cancel him out with Hagee, are blown out of the water.

Pfleger was a prominent early endorser of Obama's successful 2004 Senate campaign, as well as his unsuccessful 2000 challenge to U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush.

In 2001, Pfleger appeared at a press conference to support state legislator Obama's bill requiring the police to keep statistics on the race of motorists who were stopped by the police, to deter racial profiling. Pfleger also appeared at a press conference announcing State Senator Obama's proposal to outlaw the sale of high-nicotine hand-rolled cigarettes.

Pfleger brings back to the forefront an image problem for the Obama campaign - Barack as a poser. His light skin, intellectual demeanor and elite educational background make him play as someone who isn't part of the Sharpton wing of the Democratic Party. As his ties to the racists unfold, this link will become unmistakable. Combine that with his ties to radicalism, and an ugly brew is simmering.

Wright, Ayers, Pfleger, Rezko, Dohrn. It's tough to imagine that Barack's mafia won't destroy his credibility with the American people.

The wings of outrageous Catholic Priest Michael Pfleger, well known in Chicago for his radical diatribes and his support of Louis Farrakhan and Barack Obama, have been clipped by a Cardinal.

"To avoid months of turmoil in the church, Father Pfleger has promised me that he will not enter into campaigning," (Cardinal Francis) George said in a statement. "[He] will not publicly mention any candidate by name and will abide by the discipline common to all Catholic priests."

George said Pfleger's remarks were off course:

"Racial issues are both political and moral and are also highly charged," George said. "Words can be differently interpreted, but Father Pfleger's remarks about Senator Clinton are both partisan and amount to a personal attack. I regret that deeply."

How does Pfleger survive in the Catholic Church? He's good for business.

His rebellious style has set him apart from Chicago's Roman Catholic clergy as far back as Pfleger's seminary days, when he protested the Vietnam War and befriended Black Panthers on the city's West Side.

But it also helped the priest, who is white, turn the once-dwindling congregation at St. Sabina into a thriving, predominantly African-American parish. More than 2,100 parishioners call St. Sabina, at the corner of South Racine Avenue and West 78th Place, their spiritual home.

Everyone remembers the Swift Boat ads of 4 years ago and the huge impact made by that campaign to undermine John Kerry. That sort of attack during a presidential race, paid for by independent organizations not connected to the candidates or the parties, will likely play a big role this year as well.

I love imagining the TV ads that will be run against Barack Obama. All the polling and speculation right now seems meaningless, because the underbelly of Barack, while partially exposed, has not yet been exploited.

Consider this one, which I call the "Character" ad.

Announcer: There's an old saying that you can judge a man's character by the company he keeps.

Clip of Barack: "Did I know him to be an occasionally fierce critic of American domestic and foreign policy? Of course. Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in church? Yes."

Announcer: "Barack Obama wants to be President of the United States."

Clip of Pastor Wright: “Barack knows what it means living in a country and a culture that is controlled by rich, white people. ”

Announcer: "But do we really know him well enough to trust him with the most important job in the world?"

I know that every force in the country is aligned in such a way that Republican defeat should be unavoidable in this fall's presidential election. But I still can't imagine how Barack doesn't get crushed by McCain.